Brilliant Blog

Is depression a survival tool? Some new treatments assume so.  This new field within psychology is taking root and spreading its influence.  In the Fall of 2005, psychiatrist J. Andersen Thomson Jr. was treating an 18-year-old college freshman whom he describes as “intensely depressed, feeling suicidal and doing self-cutting.” A few years before, Thomson says, he would [...]

A new US study suggests there is a strong link between loneliness and Alzheimer’s in old age. The study is published in this month’s issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Risk of developing Alzheimer’s in old age has been linked to social isolation before, but not with perceived isolation, or loneliness. Social isolation is a measure of [...]

Queen’s University will welcome more than 1,000 second and third level students from across Ireland later this week to a series of world-class psychology lectures. The event, which begins on Friday, is only the second ever All-Ireland undergraduate Careers Fair designed specifically for those interested in the field of Psychology. Taking place in the Whitla Hall at [...]

More than 300 Scottish teachers are currently absent from their schools through stress, with experts predicting an escalation in sick leave through the work-related condition, a Sunday Herald investigation has found. At least 337 teachers of all grades - from probationers to headteachers - are off work due to stress, depression and anxiety, with teaching unions [...]

Ever wonder why some people strive to do better and want to have high status in life, while others actively avoid it? Well, this puzzle has been solved and you can blame your testosterone for this psychological behaviour. So next time if you try for a promotion and the coveted corner office? You might want to [...]

A study found that money may be a factor in encouraging anti-social behavior.By studying reactions to phrases about money and games such as Monopoly, Kathleen Vohs, a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota, said her study establishes a solid link between money and anti-social behavior. “The mere presence of money changes people,” she said. It [...]

Talk therapy may beat medication for older adults’ depression, particularly when therapists work along with the patient’s primary care doctor, a research review suggests.The review involved eight previous clinical trials, which found that psychological counseling was more effective, compared with the “usual care;” from family doctors for older adults with depression. Usual care was up to [...]

Every week for two years, Michael Hammett stared at a computer screen, trying to open a flower with his mind. Hammett had developed a case of carpal tunnel syndrome so severe he needed surgery. But being a former opiate abuser, he refused to use the medications that would be needed to control the resulting pain. Having [...]

It is said to boost performance and wellbeing, decrease anxiety, depression and chronic fatigue, and have beneficial effects on conditions ranging from chronic pain and fibromyalgia to psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and even cancer. But it’s not a futuristic wonder drug - it’s an ancient Buddhist discipline gaining increased acceptance in mainstream medicine.It is mindfulness meditation, [...]

To some ears, the following Thanksgiving menu sounds — and tastes — absolutely scrumptious: A plump bird stuffed with Stephanie and served with giblet civil, accompanied by marshmallow-topped sweet Londons, a bowl of performs with pearl unions and a serving of steamed microscopes. And, for dessert, city a la mode, followed by a confession. If only you [...]

People smoke even though they are well aware what the risks of smoking are. So if educating smokers isn’t the answer, what is? Who do you know that smokes? My girlfriend is an on-again off-again smoker, but her mother, brother and sister-in-law are heavy smokers. My father is a once-a-day smoker, but my sister smokes more. [...]

Large numbers of students diagnosed with learning disabilities could be helped by better reading instruction, particularly in the lower grades, state education officials believe.More than 30,000 Colorado students are considered learning disabled - the largest handicap category among the state’s 83,000 special education students. Numbers are similar in other states. But educators now believe most of [...]

Paul Harris, Developmental Psychology Professor at Harvard, penned this review for Slate:  Going to school in England during the 1950s, I came to accept the idea that intellectual ability is pretty much all of one piece—you have a lot or you have a little. In fact, the entire United Kingdom school system reinforced that way of [...]

Call Jake Harris the little man on campus. He is a head shorter than his classmates. He is wearing a suit because he wants to look his best for a newspaper photographer. And he is easily conversing with an art student about what’s coming into focus under his high-power microscope. At 13, Jake is the youngest student ever to [...]

For decades, religion and psychotherapy did not mix. Clinical psychologists kept spirituality and religion out of their practice, while some religious people looked askance at psychotherapy. Not anymore. Mental-health professionals and religious workers are breaking out of their traditional ways to adopt holistic approaches - looking to see what they can learn, unlearn and cull from one another [...]

Depression is a growing problem in children — and it is now legal for British doctors to give Prozac to eight-year-olds. So will more parents be tempted to use pills to make their children happy? The alarm calls started ahead of the new school year. A strident chorus of doctors, politicians, religious leaders and child-interest groups [...]

Few parents would kick their children out the door at 19 without helping them adjust to life in the adult world.Yet, that’s precisely what the British Columbia government is doing to many of the children in its care, Child and Youth Officer Jane Morley says in a report released yesterday. The abrupt transition is particularly tough for [...]